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I suppose an upvote should be sufficient, but I am so unhappy with the new UI I am actually holding off switching to a new M4 MBP and sticking to my old M1 stil

I suppose an upvote should be sufficient, but I am so unhappy with the new UI I am actually holding off switching to a new M4 MBP and sticking to my old M1 still on Sequoia 15.7.1. I also try to give these things time and I am usually ok with the changes eventually, but the new UI elements are so incredibly distracting it's actually affecting my ability to focus on what I'm actually doing.

Reason077 1y ago
At least with Macs you are free to choose and downgrade to any OS version that you like, so long as that version supports your hardware. macOS 15.7.1 will run just fine on any M4 Mac, and Apple will likely continue to release 15.x updates for a year or so yet, and security updates even beyond that. It's not like iOS where, once updated, you're generally blocked from ever downgrading back to a previous OS version.
OGEnthusiast 1y ago
The M4 MBP, even if it comes pre-installed with Tahoe, can still be downgraded to Sequoia via DFU restore. The real cut-off will be the M5 Macs, which only Tahoe and above will have hardware support for.
lethologica 1y ago
I just bought a M4 MBA, my first since a 2014 MBP. I absolutely hated the 26 update on my phone and iPad but honestly don’t even notice it on my MacBook.
shantara 1y ago
I decided to postpone an iPhone upgrade for another year rather than be forced to use iOS 26 without a downgrade option. This is the only way to send a signal.
- seemaze 1y ago
  I upgraded iOS after I discovered that the AirPods Pro 3 lose native integration with iOS 18 and macOS 15. Hated it so much, I sent the AirPods Pro 3 back for discounted AirPods Pro 2 and am considering trading my upgraded iPhone in for the latest model I can get on iOS 18. I'm going to ride iOS 18 and macOS 15 into the sunset and then leave the Apple ecosystem.
  - shantara 1y ago
    Thanks, that’s very good to know. I was actually eyeing the new AirPods, and it didn’t even occur to me that their functionality is tied to the iOS version. Now they’ve become just another thing to skip.
    - seemaze 1y ago
      They still work as generic Bluetooth earphones, including ANC and transparency, but they don’t show up in FindMy and you can’t control case charging sounds or notification volume.
      - shantara 1y ago
        These extra proprietary features are the main reason to pick AirPods over some non-Apple headphones.
- orloffm 1y ago
  No, the way to send a signal is to buy it and return.
NaomiLehman 1y ago
I know it's shit. But for all of you, regardless of whether it's Mac OS or iOS, go to accessibility options and enable high contrast. It removes transparency/liquid glass.
- TheAmazingRace 1y ago
  Thank you for this tip. iOS feels so much better now!
  - krrrh 1y ago
    Also check Reduce Motion and the whole OS will feel more stable even if it’s only an illusion.
    - asplake 1y ago
      That has long been an important setting for anyone who suffers from vertigo
- Esophagus4 1y ago
  Legend, thank you. Increase contrast + reduce transparency did it for me.
  - NaomiLehman 1y ago
    Yup! it's called differently depending if you're on iOS or Mac OS. just try enabling everything and see what works for you :)
- dwood_dev 1y ago
  Yes. I was iffy on contrast, but after a day I made the same change on all my devices. I decided i really like well defined borders on things.
- klinch 1y ago
  Wow. Disabling Transparency makes a huge difference on my iPhone 13 (sluggish, stuttering animations -> smooth af). Thanks!
fruitplants 1y ago
IMO at Apple the feedback loops seem to have gotten longer. They took a lot of time to discontinue the butterfly keyboards, bring magsafe back, etc. So it's likely that they'll double down on this OS/ UX than correct their path soon. I am not saying that they don't care. But I haven't seen statements like 'we made a mistake', or even 'you are holding it wrong', etc. This- not caring to be answerable to the end user, along with other perceptions in this thread (like siloed teams, bugs in their own apps) makes me think that Apple has become a somewhat dysfunctional enterprise. If they are going down that path, maybe they should hire SAFe Agile consultants. :-) Disclaimer: Don't follow Apple or HN a lot. And these opinions are maybe more of my perceptions than facts. Open to corrections.
lenkite 1y ago
Apart from the usual suspect of "modern" UI designers needlessly changing stuff to justify their job, it is my personal opinion that the SwiftUI framework is one of the root causes of Apple's piss-poor software UX and performance. For anything apart from very simple bog-standard views, that framework becomes bewildering with a high cognitive burden and simply does not scale well when any kind of customization is needed. Also compiler performance - People get fed up of "The compiler could not type check the expression in reasonable time" and just say fsck-it and ship broken stuff. It is one of the reasons that now >40% of apps on iOS/MacOS now use other frameworks - and that percentage is steadily climbing. (I think that number has already crossed 50% recently). Apple needs to re-invent their UI framework from scratch. Plain old-school MVC worked better.
tacker2000 1y ago
If you are a pro user its generally not a good idea to install the latest upgrade immediately.

Reason077 1y ago

At least with Macs you are free to choose and downgrade to any OS version that you like, so long as that version supports your hardware. macOS 15.7.1 will run just fine on any M4 Mac, and Apple will likely continue to release 15.x updates for a year or so yet, and security updates even beyond that. It's not like iOS where, once updated, you're generally blocked from ever downgrading back to a previous OS version.

OGEnthusiast 1y ago

The M4 MBP, even if it comes pre-installed with Tahoe, can still be downgraded to Sequoia via DFU restore. The real cut-off will be the M5 Macs, which only Tahoe and above will have hardware support for.

lethologica 1y ago

I just bought a M4 MBA, my first since a 2014 MBP. I absolutely hated the 26 update on my phone and iPad but honestly don’t even notice it on my MacBook.

shantara 1y ago

I decided to postpone an iPhone upgrade for another year rather than be forced to use iOS 26 without a downgrade option. This is the only way to send a signal.

seemaze 1y ago
I upgraded iOS after I discovered that the AirPods Pro 3 lose native integration with iOS 18 and macOS 15. Hated it so much, I sent the AirPods Pro 3 back for discounted AirPods Pro 2 and am considering trading my upgraded iPhone in for the latest model I can get on iOS 18. I'm going to ride iOS 18 and macOS 15 into the sunset and then leave the Apple ecosystem.
- shantara 1y ago
  Thanks, that’s very good to know. I was actually eyeing the new AirPods, and it didn’t even occur to me that their functionality is tied to the iOS version. Now they’ve become just another thing to skip.
  - seemaze 1y ago
    They still work as generic Bluetooth earphones, including ANC and transparency, but they don’t show up in FindMy and you can’t control case charging sounds or notification volume.
    - shantara 1y ago
      These extra proprietary features are the main reason to pick AirPods over some non-Apple headphones.
orloffm 1y ago
No, the way to send a signal is to buy it and return.

NaomiLehman 1y ago

I know it's shit. But for all of you, regardless of whether it's Mac OS or iOS, go to accessibility options and enable high contrast. It removes transparency/liquid glass.

TheAmazingRace 1y ago
Thank you for this tip. iOS feels so much better now!
- krrrh 1y ago
  Also check Reduce Motion and the whole OS will feel more stable even if it’s only an illusion.
  - asplake 1y ago
    That has long been an important setting for anyone who suffers from vertigo
Esophagus4 1y ago
Legend, thank you. Increase contrast + reduce transparency did it for me.
- NaomiLehman 1y ago
  Yup! it's called differently depending if you're on iOS or Mac OS. just try enabling everything and see what works for you :)
dwood_dev 1y ago
Yes. I was iffy on contrast, but after a day I made the same change on all my devices. I decided i really like well defined borders on things.
klinch 1y ago
Wow. Disabling Transparency makes a huge difference on my iPhone 13 (sluggish, stuttering animations -> smooth af). Thanks!

fruitplants 1y ago

IMO at Apple the feedback loops seem to have gotten longer. They took a lot of time to discontinue the butterfly keyboards, bring magsafe back, etc. So it's likely that they'll double down on this OS/ UX than correct their path soon. I am not saying that they don't care. But I haven't seen statements like 'we made a mistake', or even 'you are holding it wrong', etc. This- not caring to be answerable to the end user, along with other perceptions in this thread (like siloed teams, bugs in their own apps) makes me think that Apple has become a somewhat dysfunctional enterprise. If they are going down that path, maybe they should hire SAFe Agile consultants. :-) Disclaimer: Don't follow Apple or HN a lot. And these opinions are maybe more of my perceptions than facts. Open to corrections.

lenkite 1y ago

Apart from the usual suspect of "modern" UI designers needlessly changing stuff to justify their job, it is my personal opinion that the SwiftUI framework is one of the root causes of Apple's piss-poor software UX and performance. For anything apart from very simple bog-standard views, that framework becomes bewildering with a high cognitive burden and simply does not scale well when any kind of customization is needed. Also compiler performance - People get fed up of "The compiler could not type check the expression in reasonable time" and just say fsck-it and ship broken stuff. It is one of the reasons that now >40% of apps on iOS/MacOS now use other frameworks - and that percentage is steadily climbing. (I think that number has already crossed 50% recently). Apple needs to re-invent their UI framework from scratch. Plain old-school MVC worked better.

tacker2000 1y ago

If you are a pro user its generally not a good idea to install the latest upgrade immediately.